Human Rights Teams Demand British PM Cancels Saudi Prince’s UK Go to

A coalition of human rights group have demanded that Theresa Could withdraw her invitation to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to go to the UK.

The coalition, together with the Marketing campaign In opposition to Arms Commerce (CAAT) and Arab Group for Human Rights within the UK (AOHR UK), despatched a letter to the prime minister on Monday saying the go to was not in Britain’s curiosity, nor within the curiosity of the peoples affected by the Crown Prince’s adventurism.

The Crown Prince has overseen the lethal bombardment of Yemen and holds a senior function within the repressive Saudi regime, which has one of many worst human rights information on the earth.

“The Saudi regime … has one of many worst human rights information on the earth. Torture, arbitrary detention, and different appalling abuses are broadly documented,” the letter stated.

“It shames us as a nation to help and affiliate with a brutal dictator who makes use of starvation as a weapon, and has allowed the most important cholera epidemic in historical past to develop in Yemen,” it added.

Could had invited the crown prince and Saudi King Salman in December to go to the UK in 2018 amid the worldwide outcry over Riyadh’s ongoing battle crimes in Yemen.

Britain is a serious supporter of the Saudi battle on Yemen. The Could authorities has been below fireplace at residence and overseas for refusing to droop British arms gross sales to Saudi Arabia amid its ongoing battle on Yemen.

London, nonetheless, has turned a deaf ear to critics because it sees Saudi Arabia as a buying and selling associate that Britain would want after exit from the European Union (EU).

Based on CAAT, the UK authorities has licensed greater than £four.6 billion ($6.three billion ) price of arms gross sales to Saudi Arabia for the reason that bombing started in 2015.

The Saudi-led battle has thus far killed greater than 12,000 individuals and led to a humanitarian disaster in addition to a lethal cholera outbreak in Yemen.

“British-made jets and bombs have performed a serious function in destroying civilian targets and the poor nation’s [Yemen’s] infrastructure,” the rights teams’ letter stated.

“UK personnel, from the armed forces and BAE Programs, are current within the Saudi operations centre, aiding this disaster.”

The letter which additionally signed by the Bahrain Institute for Human Rights, Sheba for Democracy and Human Rights, Human Rights for Yemen, Iraqi Democrats, and Cease the Warfare Coalition states that Saudi officers have ‘supported repression in different states’ reminiscent of in Bahrain in 2011, throughout a navy crackdown towards anti-regime protesters.